A mysterious new species of holiday bird has been popping up in Burnaby over the past decade.
The turducken seems to have emigrated from the United States, where a “more is more” approach to cooking is the norm.
This combination of a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken has been appearing on local tables at Thanksgiving and Christmas and is gaining in popularity.
But it is for true foodies, according to Herb Thomasen, meat department manager at Nesters Market at UniverCity.
“What I tell people is, this is something you should serve to your best friends, don’t waste it on relatives,” he said, laughing. “It’s for discerning individuals.”
Thomasen has carried the specialty dish at the Simon Fraser University Nesters Market since it opened, he said.
“I bring them in for Thanksgiving and Christmas,” he said. “They’re getting more popular.”
The turduckens sell out, Thomasen added.
As for the flavour, Thomasen says it is “very good, very unique.
“If you were really picky and kind of separated a piece of each, yes, you could (taste the individual flavours),” he said of the meal. “But that’s not the way to enjoy it because the ones we bring in have kind of a spicy sausage stuffing, so the whole thing is kind of a melded flavour.”
The cost can catch some people off-guard, he said.
“I’ll often see people come in and pick one up and look at it … and put it back down,” Thomasen said. “So I know what went through their mind. They are a bit pricey, but like I say, they are for discerning people. If you want a special occasion, that’s what you get.”
It can be served with traditional trimmings, according to Thomasen, who recommends serving yams.
As for going the do-it-yourself route, Thomasen said deboning three birds for the dish is not the best idea for newbies.
“Trust me – you can do it, but unless you’ve done it a few times and know what you’re doing, you’re going to make a mess. Knife cuts here and there,” he said. “And a good butcher would do it for you, if you were to ask.”
Thomasen had two turducken available at the UniverCity Nesters Market as of Wednesday and can order more in as needed, he said.
The specialty dish is also available at Cioffi’s Meat Market.
Daniel Lalonde, an employee at Cioffi’s, said the store has been selling them for about a decade.
“The response has been excellent, and every year, the orders seem to be more and more,” he said.
While it is a complicated dish to make by hand, picking up a ready-made turducken can provide the wow factor at the dinner table without the work, he pointed out.
“The appeal is, I believe it’s probably easy for people just because there’s no work involved for them, they have all three birds stuffed full of other stuffing,” he said.
The store offers Italian stuffing or traditional bread stuffing options, as well as ham, spinach and cheese, he said.
“The way we separate it, it’s kind of in layers, so you can kind of see and taste the difference,” Lalonde said.
He has tried it and enjoys it, he said, though he prefers the smaller turducken roasts, which the store also carries.
Those are ideal for a group of four, he added.
“I like it,” Lalonde said. “It’s not something I’d make all the time for myself, but once in a while it’s nice.”
To order a turducken from Cioffi’s email the market as soon as possible at [email protected].
Some grocery stores, such as Buy-Low and some Save-Ons, also carry the turducken and frozen turducken roasts.
The NOW contacted Uptown Market and Queens Park Meat Market in New Westminster to see if either butcher carried turducken, but both said no.
“It’s highly over-rated,” Peter Corbeil, owner of Queens Park Meat Market, said. “It’s quite expensive, too.”
Let’s Talk turducken:
While it might seem like a newfangled food fad, it looks like turducken may have been around for centuries – or at least, the concept of encasing various types of meat or poultry in another type of meat or poultry has. Here are some facts about the delicacy:
- Turducken consists of a deboned turkey stuffed with a deboned duck stuffed with a deboned chicken.
- The dish can include a variety of stuffings, either in the centre or between each layer of meat.
- In 1997, American football commentator John Madden showed off his turducken carving skills during a CBS Sports NFL broadcast. He also awarded a turducken to players on the winning team of the Thanksgiving Bowl while appearing on Fox Sports. However, in recent years Madden has stopped promoting the dish and told fans he is serving a traditional turkey for Thanksgiving nowadays.
- In the United Kingdom, turducken are known as three-bird roasts or “royal roasts.” There are also five-bird roasts available.
- Gastronomist Grimod de La Reynière presented his rôti sans pareil or “incomparable roast,” which consisted of 17 different birds, in his 1807 Almanach des Gourmands. He also said multi-bird roasts were common in Roman times.
- It can be purchased at some specialty butchers in Burnaby and Vancouver, and can be found at some grocery stores, as well.
Information on the history of turducken obtained from wikipedia.org
